Warmth
by Psychic Prince
Summary: Marth is freezing to death, but stubbornly refuses any help, especially from a certain blue-haired mercenary. Ike, on the other hand, has a little trick up his sleeve to help him, whether Marth likes it or not... IkexMarth. For MoD and Tune's Fireside Tales Contest!


**Hiya! This is for MoD and Tune's Fireside Tales Contest! Yay! My first contest entry ever! I tried to make this as fluffy, cute, and heartwarming as possible, but sometimes I'm afraid I'm not the "cute" type of writer... I don't own anything... Enjoy!**

Marth sat on the bench beside the garden, absentmindedly watching some of the Smashers having snowball fights. He held his hands in his lap and buried his nose deeper within the navy blue scarf that was wound around his neck. The dark blue trench coat that he wore was littered with specks of white snow.

He shifted his gaze to the once-magnificent garden. It was bitterly barren now, only a thick layer of snow stretching out across it. A few trees stood out, but their branches were bare as well, and snow was weighing the weaker branches down. Snow began to fall, slowly but steadily.

_It's a pity that winter wipes away all of the flowers._

Marth shuddered as a freezing wind picked up. It nearly blew the poor freezing prince off of the bench despite his thick layers of clothes. His hands were usually pale, but now they were shaking and even more pallid than usual. Even so, he remained there, intent on watching the snowball fight that he couldn't join due to his frozen state.

_It's freezing... Like the fool I am, I lost my mittens. My rotten luck._

Despite his condition, Marth chuckled a bit at the sight of Link being struck full in the face with Samus's snowball. His chuckling faded into violent coughing, his whole body convulsing.

A strong hand suddenly whacked him square in the back, and in his shock, Marth stopped coughing. He was about to shriek at the person who'd hit him in such a way until he saw a flash of tousled blue hair and brilliant blue eyes.

"You okay?"Ike questioned, coming around the bench to gaze at Marth. He was wearing his usual clothing and armor, and he didn't even look cold. However, he did have mittens, which Marth envied slightly.

"Y-Yeah."

Even with the cold, Marth felt his cheeks flush a bit when Ike continued to stare at him. Finally, he stuttered, "W-What are you looking at?"

"Your nose... It's red,"Ike mumbled, "You look frozen to death."

Subconsciously, Marth touched his nose with his numb fingers. Everything was numb. "I guess I am."

Ike continued his study of the prince and his gaze finally reached Marth's hands. He hastily hid them in his lap again, but Ike swooped down and yanked his arms out so that he could observe Marth's slender hands. Marth, feeling slightly disgruntled, turned his head away and pouted in a childish way.

"... Where are your mittens?"

"T-That's my concern and none of yours!"Marth stammered, "Why do you care?"

He got no answer. Ike knelt down and removed his own blue mittens and held them out to Marth silently.

"W-What are you doing?! Put those back on!"Marth shrieked, frantically taking Ike's gloves and trying to shove them back onto the mercenary's hands.

Ike resisted, wiggling his hands out of the mittens. "You're freezing!"

"You _will _freeze if you don't put these on!"

This argument stretched on for a few more minutes, with Marth trying to force Ike's hands into his gloves and Ike resisting then trying to make him wear them. Ike finally gave up and snatched the mittens from Marth, then promptly threw them over his shoulder. Marth let in a shaky gasp and made a move to retrieve the gloves in the snow.

Ike gently pushed him back onto the bench, much to his dismay. He then wrapped his warm hands around Marth's freezing, thin ones. Marth struggled for a moment before realizing what kind of position he was in.

Marth's whole face flushed a deep crimson, all of the coldness draining out of his body. He was still trembling, but now it was from embarrassment, not cold. Snow was beginning to gather on his neat blue hair, but Marth didn't notice.

… _He's holding my hands..._

Ike grinned cheekily. "Feeling better? Your face is regaining color... A bit too much color, actually."

"H-How _dare _you-"

Marth's voice shook as he continued to rant at Ike, who still firmly clasped his hands in his own. Ike seemed to be concentrating on transferring all of his warmth into Marth's hands. Marth slowly stopped his nagging when he realized this, and, if it was even possible, his face turned an even brighter red.

"Let go of my hands,"Marth demanded, and Ike calmly did so. "See, I'm fine-"

Upon letting go of Marth, Ike promptly cupped Marth's beet-red face in both of his hands, his eyes closed with a smirk on his face. "... I let go of your hands."

"Why you-!"

_It's hard to admit, but... I'm actually enjoying this._

He sat there for a moment in spite of himself, giving in to the comforting warmth of Ike's hands. The warmth was a wonderful feeling after he'd been freezing before. Still, having Ike help him like this was an even better feeling, but Marth would never have admitted it.

Eventually, Marth stood and Ike slowly opened his eyes, still kneeling before him. Marth edged around Ike and retrieved the somewhat soggy mittens, deep in thought. He kept the right mitten and gave Ike the left one.

"Take this,"Marth mumbled, and slipped his mitten on. Ike, obviously confused, listened to him and put it on as well.

Marth held his left hand out to Ike, who hesitantly took it with his right hand. He allowed himself to smile, and began to lead Ike back towards the Smash Mansion, dodging snowballs occasionally.

_Now we can both be warm. Besides... I like it this way._

* * *

The residents of the Smash Mansion, cold to the bone from their snowball fight, trudged into the living room to find Ike sitting cross-legged on the floor, leaning against a chair in front of the fireplace. His eyes were closed, as if he was sleeping peacefully. Ike held Marth's head in his lap, the prince curled up just far enough from the fireplace so that his clothes wouldn't catch on fire. Marth seemed to be peacefully and blissfully asleep as well, and the Smashers took special care not to wake them. After all, it was the perfect opportunity to snap a teasing picture.

**I hope this was fluffy enough for you all... ^^**

**MoD and Tune, I hope you liked it! :D  
**

**Please review!  
**

**- Psychic  
**


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